Fuel storage and discharge apparatus



,ADecl 12, 1939. R GQDDA-RD 2,183,312

FUEL\S T0RVAGE 'AND DSCHARGE APPARATUS originl Filed News; 1936.

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Pefeefed Dee. 12, 19394 .l UNTTED STATES PATENTol-Fica AND Discmans lFUEI' 'STORAGE APPARA TUS neben n. Goddard, Boswell, N. Mex.

Orillllll Divided and application November'f 9, 1936, Serial No.

3l, 1938, Serial N0. 199,189

4 Claims. (Cl. 'I4-f5) This application is a division of my prior application Serial No. 109,964, led November 9, 1936, on Gyroscopic steering apparatus, which has matured into Patent No. 2,158,180, dated 5 Mey 1c, 1939.

The present invention relates to certain fuel storage and discharge apparatus, fully shown and described in said original application.

The invention relates'more specifically to the.

provisionof hollow rotating gyroscope rings or rotors in the steering gyroscopes of an aircraft, which -hollovgr rings may be lled with liquid \-fuel, to be used later in propelling th aircraft. This liquid fuel, when confined within one or-more l5 hollow gyroscope rings, provides the necessary mass for eii'ective flight control. As the flight continues and the usual fuel supply tanks become exhausted, the .fuel inthe gyroscope rings may be gradually withdrawn for combustion purposes.

Although such loss ofweight from the. gyroscope rings will somewhat reduce their corrective action, this is nota serious disadvantage, since a large part of rthe weight of the craft is in the regular fuel load, and by the time, the fuel tanks are nearly empty the weight of the craft will have been/reduced sulciently sothat even the empty gyroscope rings will 'produce effective .flight control.

A further feature of my invention relates to the provision of special means for withdrawing the liquid fuel. from the rapidly rotating hollow-V gyroscope rings or rotors in such manner'ast continuously maintain and even'increase the an- $5 guiar momentum of the'gyroscopesas the mass Fig'. 5 is a side elevation of certainA devices by which the discharge valves are controlled; Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view, taken along the line 6-6 vin Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail view to be described; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of certain parts shown in Fig. 7.

e ,5 Referring te rigs. 1, a and s, eeen nenew 'recae this application March ing gyroscope element is preferably made in the form of a hollow ring' or rotor |60 supported on a hollow shaft'l6i by hollow spokes I62,.aliof which hollow elements preferably connect with each other. A filler 'plug |63 is provided at one g' point on the ring |60 and a counterbalanceof equal weight is provided at |64.

Stiifening diaphragms |66 are provided at spaced intervals within the hollow ring |60, which partitions also serve to keep the liquid rotating at the same speed as the hollow ring. Each dia. phragm has a notch or opening |66 (Fig. 4) at its outer edge to permit iiow of liquid towardone or the other of two oppositely disposed dischargevalves |1|1l (Fig. 2), shown herein as out- 1'5 extendwardly'closing needle valves.

Each needle ftalve |10 has a rod |1| ing inward through the ring and through af f .packing |1|, said rod being connected to a pivoted lever |12 (Fig. 2).. A compression spring 20 |13 actson each lever |12 and rod |1| to normally maintain its needle valve |10 in'closed.or outer position, which actionis assisted by oentrifugal force.

neen lever nz nasa eem plate m (Fig. ai g5 mounted thereon and angulariy disposed in the path of a pair of valve-opening slides |16 (Fig. 5). I'he slides |16 are each mountedin'guideways 11 secured to arms |16 (Fig. 1) extending from the gimbal 32 which supports the 30 rotating'gyroscope elements |60.

inwar 'e Each slide |16 is provided with rack teeth engaged by apinion |60 (Figs. 5 and 6), which pinion may be rotated by a small motor.|8|, the operation of which may be either manual or oat- 35 controlled. Movement of the slides is limited by inner and outer stops |82 (Fig. 5).

The slides |16 are mountedin pairs so posi-- -tioned that the two associated slides when moved toward the ring |60 will simultaneously engage the cam piates`|16 at opposite sides of a ring, thus causing simultaneous momentary opening of both needle valvesv |10 twice during each` rev olution. `Everytime the valves are opened, a smalll amount of liquid is discharged through the a 'valves |10 into rearwardly disposed caps or noz- .zles |03 (Figs. 2 and 3).

'I'he caps or nozzles |03 direct the ejected fuel rearwardly relative to the tangential motion of. the periphery of the hollow? gyroscope element |60, so that the fuel leaves the gyroscope at much reduced peripheral speed. v causes repeated movementsof Vthe valve rods |1| toward the axis o'f the rotor and thereby effecting' less' splashing in the fuel tank to which the fuel Ais u delivered, and furthermore the energy of the escaping fuel is largely transferred to the gyroscope ring and to the remaining fuel. This tends to speed up the gyroscope and thus maintain its momentum, oifsetting to a considerable extent the reductionr in mass of the gyroscope rotor as the fuel escapes therefrom. As equal amounts of fuel escape at opposite points on the gyroscope ring, no unbalanced force acting on the ring is caused by the escape of fuel.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7, a steer-- ing gyroscope unit is mounted in a box-like casing 200 secured within a fuel tank by light supports The casing 200 is provided with a thin flexible liquid-tight covering 202, so disposed that all sides of the casing will be concave to withstand the hydrostatic pressure of the fuel in the tank.

A vent pipe 203 leads from the casing 200 to the hollow space at the top of the fuel tank above thefuel level. A vent valve 204'(Fig. 8) is provided in the side of the casing 200, which valve 4204 is closed by outside hydrostatic pressure so long as the casing is submerged, but .opens by gravity when the fuel level in the tank drops below the valve. If the fuel in the rotating gyroscope is then discharged, after the fuel level drops and when the valve 204 is open, the discharged fuel iiows through the valve 204 to the fuel tank.

By thus utilizing the rotating elements of a gyroscope apparatus as fuel containers, these elements may be made of any desired size and when lled they will have sufficient mass to produce any desired angular momentum and flightcorrecting effect.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I- do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In gyroscopic steering apparatus for aerial craft, that improvement which consists in providing a hollow annular gyroscope rotor,'means to iill said rotor with liquid fuel, means to rotate said rotor at high speed. means to cause alessia said liquid fuel to rotate with said rotor and at substantially the same speed, normally-closed means in the periphery of said motor effective when opened to gradually discharge said fuel from said rotor while said rotor is rotating at said high speed, and apparatus to render said discharge means intermittently and momentarily operative at least once in each revolution of said rotor.

'2. In gyroscopic steering apparatus for aerial craft, that improvement which consists in providing a hollow annular gyroscope rotor, means toiill said rotor with liquid fuel, means to rotate said rotor at high speed, a pair of discharge valves in the periphery of said rotor and at opposite sides of said rotor, and means to open said valves simultaneously as said rotor is rotating at said high speed.

3. In gyroscopic steering apparatus for aerial craft, that improvement which consists in providing a hollow annular gyroscope rotor, means to fill said rotor with liquid fuel, means to rotate said rotor at high speed, a pair of discharge valves in the periphery of said rotor and at opposite sides of said rotor, means to open said valves simultaneously as said rotor is rotating at said high speed, and rearwardly opening caps covering said valves and effecting rearward discharge of fuel when said valves are opened.

. 4. In gyroscopic steering apparatus for aerial craft, that improvement which consists in providing a hollow annular gyroscope rotor, means to ll said rotor with liquid fuel, means to rotate said rotor at high speed, a pair of discharge valves in the periphery of said rotor and at opposite sides of said rotor, means to open said' valves simultaneously as said rotor is rotating at said high speed, and a plurality of substantially radial partitions xed within said hollow rotor and having openings therethrough adjacent the periphery of said ring, said partitions being effective to induce rotation of the contained liquid with said rotor.

ROBERT H. GODDARD. 

